1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a gas valve control system for a heater that is remotely controlled.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of gas valve controllers are known in the art. The gas valve controllers of the prior art have included a burner that is operatively connected to a valve that provides fuel to the burner. In certain instances, the valve is controlled by a controller that generates and transmits a control signal to the valve. In order to receive the control signal from the controller, a receiver is electrically connected to the valve. The receiver may be in wired or wireless communication with the controller. In the case of wireless communication between the controller and the receiver, the control signal may be transmitted by the controller to the receiver in the radio frequency (RF) band. Therefore, the control signal is able to penetrate walls. The control signal actuates the valve in order to adjust the heat. If more heat is requested, then the control signal instructs the valve to allow more fuel to reach the burner, resulting in the burner generating a larger flame and increased heat. On the other hand, if less heat is requested, the valve restricts the amount of fuel that reaches the burner generating a smaller flame, which produces less heat.
The prior art gas valve control systems related to the subject invention are used in various applications, including remote controlled fireplace. The gas valve control systems of the prior art, however, transmit the control signal as a RF signal or as an infrared (IR) signal. As soon as the receiver receives the control signal, the receiver processes the control signal and operates the fireplace in response to the control signal. Based on the characteristics of RF signals and IR signals, including the ability to travel great distances or penetrate walls, there is a risk that the control signal may be generated accidentally from another room than the fireplace. Therefore, there remains an opportunity to improve upon the gas valve control systems of the prior art by validating the control signal to verify that the controller transmitting the control signal was within a predetermined maximum distance from the receiver before the valve responds to the control signal. Also, there remains an opportunity to improve upon the gas valve control systems of the prior art to verify that the valve only responds to the control signal if the controller is within a line of sight relative to the receiver.